Our 9th annual Inside China Automotive Conference features insights by manufacturers, suppliers, consultants, and UM experts on the current and future prospects for the automotive industry in China. The Chinese market continues to be the largest automotive market in the world despite a recent slowdown. The government is challenged to manage the environmental impact of vehicle production and operation, trying to balance the explosive growth of its economy with the need to create a sustainable environment. Its focus on electric vehicles in the auto industry is one approach it is taking to support sustainability.

This year our speakers will discuss many of the most important issues related to the industry including current vehicle sales environment, the global ambitions of their domestic manufacturers and suppliers, the electric vehicle strategies of Chinese manufacturers, the new government policies that are supporting electric vehicles, and the environmental impact of a large scale deployment. They will also discuss the impact of new connected vehicle technology and the industry and government support needed to take advantage of this new technology. As with past conferences, we will focus on future industry trends in market structure and the roles of both the domestic and foreign manufacturers and suppliers in the industry.

Some of the key questions we will address include: What are the current consumer trends in vehicle purchasing, and what are some of the potential future buying patterns? What are the new electric and connected vehicle strategies put forth by the government? How do they differ from previous regulations and why might they be more or less successful? What companies are leading China’s domestic electric vehicle industry? What are some of the environmental impacts that researchers see being affected by the growth of the electric vehicle industry? How are or will the foreign manufacturers respond to the new regulations?

Baovin Xie, VP, Product Development, Beijing Automotive Technology Center, Beijing Motor Corporation Ltd. will discuss his company's product development strategy for their wide variety of vehicles produced with their foreign joint venture partners as well as their own branded heavy trucks, SUVs, and passenger cars.

Sergio Muniz, UMTRI AF Visiting Researcher (from Federal Technological University of Paraná, Brazil) will discuss his research into Chinese manufacturer EV strategies including their platform, marketing, and charging infrastructure strategies.

Ming Xu, UM Associate Professor in School of Natural Resources and Environment and Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering will talk about his recent research on environmental implications of electric vehicles in China and efforts in using large-scale travel trajectory data for evaluating such impacts and optimizing charging infrastructure siting.

Steven Golden, Chief Technology Officer and VP Business Development at Clean Diesel Technologies (CDTi) will review the Chinese government’s current policies on vehicle emissions as well as potential future emissions regulations.

Other manufacturers, suppliers, government representatives, and consultants have been invited.